Yo Santa Monica? The Selling Of Yo Venice.

A couple of weeks ago I started getting texts and emails from bothered, annoyed, and downright disgruntled friends in Venice, over a snarky little article posted on Yo Venice. In all honesty, I haven't really paid much attention to Yo Venice, since its founder, Bret Haller, passed away from cancer just over a year ago. It just felt different, you know? And now it IS different, because Heller's family sold the site to a corporate media group, that also owns the Santa Monica Mirror. Much like the Jules Muck mural of Haller has now been a bit defaced by graffiti, so now too has his site been defaced.

After all complaints I was hearing about this article, and about the new Yo Venice itself, I had to go read the thing. I won't bother reprinting the smarm, because it's infuriating, but you can read it here. If you want.

Its author, Steve Stajich (who I understand lives and works in Santa Monica), ends his bitchy top ten list with "Thanks for the chuckle, Venice. Now, everybody, back to work." Ooooh. Really, dude? Right there he lets us know that he is not OF Venice, so probably shouldn't be writing for a site that represents Venice. And should certainly not be ripping on the town and its sense of fun and freedom. Then, later in the week, I was at lunch in Santa Monica and saw that the exact same article was in the print version of the Santa Monica Mirror! So Yo Venice basically now IS the Santa Monica Mirror. Which I don't read.

That is what the whole topless sunbathing thing is really about. We don't WANT to be Santa Monica. We want to live in a town that values and celebrates freedom and self-expression. We have a topless "Bare Your Breasts" march down the Boardwalk each Summer. We used to have a naked co-ed bike ride down the middle of the Abbot Kinney Festival every year. We had naked poetry readings on Wednesdays at Abbot's Habit. We've always pretty much done whatever we want (and can get away with) in the name of innocent fun and artistic freedom. Now, Money is killing the very spirit of Venice. It is all being threatened with extinction. Not only by the big monied pockets of people that don't get it, but also now, seemingly, by our own sources of news and information.

I was told that Yo Venice is now ran by "a Venice local", but no local I know would have ever dreamed of publishing that bratty article. Bret Haller would NEVER have let that thing get by. I've always loved Yo Venice (aside from the very nasty fake name chat room trolls I've been told about, but can't be bothered to pay attention to), but today I pretty much find myself missing and mourning the old site as much as I do my good friend, Haller.

No worries at all though. For up to the minute Venice info, go to the always awesome Venice Concierge. They're the REAL local deal.

As for Venice, itself ... it's up to all of us who love and care about it to keep it fun, to keep it free. If that means I'm sunbathing topless on the beach, so be it. For Bret, and for the future of Venice. I'll see you out there!

Where My Sidewalk Ends ...

I was walking down my street this morning, and it was so pretty out, I wanted to share it.

Then I started thinking about Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends*, because on this street, that's where I live.

That beautiful, classic book of poems is now 40 years old, yet the wonder and wisdom is simply timeless. And after all these years, the opening poem is still my favorite ...

INVITATION

If you are a dreamer, come in.

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . .

If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire,

For we have some flax golden tales to spin.

Come in!

Come in!

Yes. We really do have some flax golden tales to spin around here. Please come in!

*Always available at Baby Burro!

Yo Bret! Farewell To A Great Friend Of Venice

Yesterday was truly a sad day for Venice, California. We lost our friend Bret Haller, founder of Yo Venice, the website that kept you in the know all the latest about what was going on around town. Bret and I became friends when he wrote to me complimenting me on a story I wrote here on Blogtown. That began a friendship, and mutual respect, with both of us caring deeply about our Venice Community, and doing our best to bring our fellow citizens together to keep that Venice bond strong.

Bret and I would stick up for each other when someone (usually nameless, using some lame troll handle in a forum) would go after us for something we'd written, we'd re-post each others' stuff, give each other more (or correct) information, and make electronic introductions for each other with people that shared our orbit that we thought the other should know. We had different things going on with our sites, so we were never in competition, and both thought our work complimented the other's.

This was the last email I got from Bret last month, and one that is a great example of exactly who he was ... always trying to connect the Venice dots, this time between myself and Paul Chesne:


Paul, you put out a new record and you didn’t email me a copy to review for Yo?

You on a bender of epicness?

Anyway, CJ, since Paul is such a Paul, can I use your writeup of “Downright Up & Left”? I wanna help him out even tho he didn’t send me anything! No morphine for you next time we hang Paul!

HAHAHHAH

I am sure the new one is great, as yer the best boogie band in these parts!

Cool that you two are friends, I should have assumed so!

B

Of course it was cool. It always was. I texted Bret a few weeks ago to tell him I thought it was finally time for me to write a story about HIM and his Yo Venice that kept so many of us informed with what was going on up to the minute. He didn't get back to me, unusually, but I knew he was dealing with late stage cancer, so anything could be going on. He was so positive and upbeat every time we spoke or emailed - funny, even - that I thought he was probably just on a particularly rough bout of chemo, but he was for sure gonna beat that stuff.  For sure. Soon, we'd go meet up for that beer we kept talking about getting, and I'd grill him for a story. I'm sad that I'll never get to tell it now. Sad for me, and losing that supportive friend, and sad for Venice, that we have lost such an important member of our community. Someone that truly loved his home, and made it his life's work.

Rest peacefully now, Bret. You can be sure we're pouring some of that beer out all over Venice turf for you. Cheers, Brother.

Overreaction

It's been a marvelous, glistening winter so far in Venice, hasn't it? There is no better place to realize this fact than at the beach each morning. We exchange smiles and waves with the regular people every day, all of feeling extra blessed/blissed, seen clearly on our faces.

Yesterday's glorious stroll was interrupted by total mayhem. The tractor sand mover things were out rumbling the ground beneath our feet, super noisy. This is a harbinger of spring, however, as they were plowing down the giant sand berms that protect the homes in winter. So bad/good.

Then the most gigantic yacht I've ever seen was parked out a little beyond the Venice Pier, belching smoke out its stacks and demanding to be gawked at. Obnoxious. (It's still there).


Heading back north, we were just about to cross under the Venice Pier when a LAPD chopper began flying low out toward the yacht. Were they terrorists? Were they drug kingpins? What was going on?!

Then cop cars began FLYING down the Venice pier, scattering pedestrians and fishermen as they sped past. I've never ever seen this before, and it was kind of alarming. Cops spilled out of their cars at the end of the pier, and we watched from the sand as a body jumped into the water. It was like watching the movie Falling Down.


The cops and the people lining the pier all stared down into the water as LAPD and Lifeguard boats sped to the scene, Firetrucks wailed their arrival, and stand up paddle boarders rowed up to get a better look. Through it all, the surfers kept surfing.

We began to get that the big yacht had nothing to do with the scene, and that someone was busted or fell. Whatever the case, as usual, it seemed that there were too many resources being wasted on one incident. Especially when I found out later via Yo Venice (we had to get a move on in our day) that it was all for an 80 year old man, in what seemed to be a suicide attempt. Sad. Both that he wanted to end it all, but also that such a huge scene was made over it, when it would appear to be a very private choice. If you had seen the speed that the cop cars raced down the pier with, you could only be happy that no one else was hurt, as the pier is not very wide at all. Super macho, LAPD. We're impressed. (The body I saw drop in was a tourist that jumped in to help rescue the guy. One guy seemed able to handle it all. One.)

I hope the elderly gentleman is ok, that his people have shown up to love him, and that he can find peace and privacy. I also hope we can all cool it with the overreaction to stuff these days, and save the drama for the big stuff.

Never a dull moment, Venice.



*Pics by Jennifer Everhart